The Administration: Bell's Toll

For years, the task of running
the U.S. foreign aid program was known as one of Washington's quickest
routes to early retirement. In its first 13 years, the program consumed
no fewer than nine directors, none of whom lasted longer than two
years. By such standards, the program's tenth director has been an
exemplar of endurability. Last week, when David E. Bell, 47, turned in
his resignation as administrator of the Agency for International
Development, he had put in a record three and a half years on the job.